无锡
- Maximus Nostramabus
- 6小时前
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Origin of industry in China - The Grand Canal 1443; Chinese traditional architectural craftsmanship for timber-framed structures 00223; Traditional tea processing techniques and associated social practices in China 01884; Spring festival, social practices of the Chinese people in celebration of traditionadl new year 02126
Wuxi (Chinese: 无锡) has a special place in my heart as this was my first time travelling abroad (technically during that time Hong Kong (香港, Heunggong) was still under the British rule, and of course I ignore Macao (澳门, Aomen)) more than 30 years ago for an international conference. I still remember the city was pretty much barren farmlands everywhere and when I returned recently for work, how things have changed! The picture below shows what Wuxi is now like, with a population of over 7.5 million and a prefecture area of more than 4,500 km²!
What and Why
As blogged in Suzhou (苏州), the Jiangnan Canal (江南运河, Jiangnan yunhe) forms one of the most historically significant sections of the vast waterway known as the Grand Canal (大运河, Dayunhe). Running through the historic city of Wuxi, the canal played and still plays a fundamental role in shaping the economic prosperity, urban layout, and cultural life of the region. For centuries to millennia, it has served as a major artery of transportation linking southern China’s (中国, Zhongguo) rich agricultural lands with northern political centres, while nurturing the distinctive canal-town culture that characterises cities like Wuxi, Suzhou, and Hangzhou (杭州).
The Jiangnan Canal refers to the southern section of the Grand Canal that runs through the Yangtze River Delta (长江三角洲, Changjiang Sanjiaozhou). Although parts of the canal system existed as early as the 5th century BCE during the Spring and Autumn period (春秋时代, Chunqiushidai), the major unification of the canal network occurred during the Sui (隋) dynasty around the late 6th to early 7th century. The Sui emperors sought to link the northern political capitals with the fertile agricultural regions of the south, as mentioned the interest of various southern fruits like lychee (荔枝; lizhi) in our blog in Suzhou (苏州). Large-scale engineering projects connected rivers and existing canals into a continuous route stretching more than 1,700 km, running through Wuxi and Suzhou and turned these two cities into a critical hub in the transportation system.
Before the canal’s expansion, the region was already fertile, benefiting from the rich alluvial soils of the Yangtze Delta and the nearby waters of Taihu (太湖) Lake. With the canal in operation, Wuxi became a major centre for grain and rice, silk, tea, flour, fruits and general merchant trade, and fundamentally transformed and prospered Wuxi’s economy. Even in modern days, because of its convenient location as a transportation hub, it became one of the first industrial centres of China (中国, Zhongguo).
Today, the Jiangnan Canal in Wuxi remains both a functioning waterway, but more so a cultural landscape. Historic bridges, merchant houses, temples, and canal-side districts still reveal the legacy of a trading civilisation that flourished for more than a millennium.
Toponymy
'Wuxi' literally means 'no tin (as in the metal)' in Chinese. As a matter of fact the region possesses a major tin quarry and produces tin, so the name itself does not seem to reflect the truth, nor its etymological roots.
Recent research suggests that the term might have derived from Old Yue language (古越语). In Old Yue, the term 'wu (无)' is a prefix term to show respect; while 'xi (锡)' points to the hill where the tin quarry was, or more likely the deity governing the tin mine. Hence 'wuxi' is suggested to mean 'hail the tin deity'.
See
Taihu (太湖)
Right from my hotel windows is the celebrated Lake Taihu (太湖) right in front me.
While canals shaped Wuxi’s urban identity, the lake provides the city with one of its most famous natural landscapes. Taihu is one of the largest freshwater lakes in China and has inspired countless Chinese literary works and painting for centuries, for instance Taihu Stones (太湖石, Taihushilu) by Bai Juyi (白居易) and Joy of Returning to Court (归朝欢, Guichaohuan) by Su Si (苏轼) are prime examples.
Speaking about Taihu Stones, the lake is really famous for its Taihu stones (太湖石, taihushi), porous limestone formations sculpted by water erosion. These stones have been prized in Chinese garden design since the Song (宋) dynasty for their dramatic shapes and symbolic representation of mountains, as blogged in Suzhou (苏州).
There are many scenic areas around Taihu, such as the Turtle Head Isle (鼋头渚, Yuantouzhu) which offer sweeping views across the lake. Near my hotel there is the famous Chinese garden Liyuan (蠡园). Unfortunately due to my schedule I could not afford to venture to any of these. I was told that in spring, cherry blossoms attract large numbers of visitors, making the area one of the most famous seasonal attractions in China.
The canal system of Wuxi is closely linked with the lake. Water from the lake feed the canal network, while the canal allowed agricultural goods from surrounding rural areas to reach larger markets. The lake provides very high-quality water for rice and fish farming for the local cuisine, as described below.
Jiangnan Canal (江南运河)
Similar to any water-based cities in Europe like the blogged Amsterdam and Bruges (Brugge), Wuxi developed around waterways and Jiangnan Canal functioned as the city’s main transportation route around a network of waterways, although more than a millennium earlier. Neighbourhoods were organised along its banks. Streets ran parallel to the waterways, while bridges connected different districts. The area is filled with plenty of features like stone-arch bridges, docks, wharves, canal-facing houses and water markets.
This spatial organisation meant that water transport was integrated directly into everyday urban life. Boats served as delivery vehicles, trading stalls, and even mobile homes.
Wuxi lies along one of the most important southern sections of the canal.
Maintaining the Jiangnan Canal requires sophisticated hydraulic engineering. Water levels needed to be carefully controlled so that boats could pass safely through different sections of the canal. Regular dredging was necessary to remove sediment and ensure the canal remains navigable. These engineering systems represent remarkable achievements in ancient engineering and allowed the canal to function continuously for centuries.
Through this network, goods and produces from the fertile Yangtze Delta could be transported northward to supply imperial capitals; while in return, manufactured goods, cultural influences, and administrative officials moved southward.
As a result of the city's prosperity, rich merchant families and politicians built elegant houses along the canals, and markets developed near bridges and docking points, and many of these became historic monuments around the canals, or recently touristic spots, as in Qingming Bridge Area (清名桥古运河景区, Qingmingqiao Guyunhejingqu) described below.
Qingming Bridge Area (清名桥古运河景区)
The area near the Qingming Bridge is now fully developed into an integrated shopping, leisure and dining complex with the bridge right as its focus and the canal as its main thoroughfare. The Qingming Bridge (清名桥), originally named the Qingning (清宁) Bridge is the largest and best-preserved ancient stone-arch bridge in Wuxi. The bridge was initially constructed during late 16th century of the Ming (明) Dynasty under the donation by the two sons of Qin Yao (秦燿), wealthy owner of Jichang Garden (寄畅园). The two sons were Qin Taiqing (秦太清) and Qin Taining (秦太宁) and hence the bridge was originally named as Qingningqiao (清宁桥). In the year 1666 under the reign of Emperor Daoguang (道光, né Aisin Gioro Minning (Manchurian)) of the Qing (清) Dynasty, the bridge was renamed as Qingming because the word 'ning (宁)' coincided with Daoguang's birth name and it was considered disrespectful to the emperor.
While clearly the area is fully commercialised, it is widely considered one of the best preserved old canal towns of China. The area embodies the characteristics of local culture, displaying the ancient charm of the canal while bringing in vibrant tourism.
The surrounding neighbourhood preserves many elements of traditional local architecture. Locals living nearby like to call the Qingming Bridge 'the eye of the canal (运河眼, yunheyan)', as the bridge water reflection forms a perfect circle with the bridge, resembling a big eye. Other than Qingming Bridge, the other prominent bridge is Dagongqiao (大公桥).
Huishan (惠山)
Adjacent to the Qingming Bridge Area is Huishan (惠山) Park, where a similarly impressive commercialised old town is located. The park is the entrance point to the Huishan National Forest Park (惠山国家森林公园, Huishan Guojia Shenlin Gongyuan) which is a local favourite hiking spot. The park has a number of natural springs.
In fact I do find Huishan calmer and more leisurely, compared to the more bustling Qingming Bridge Area.
Many of the preserved buildings around Qingming and Huishan areas demonstrate extremely sophisticated and elaborate ancient building techniques, especially the wooden and timber constructions, as picture above. Chinese timber architecture is another ICH.
Clearly there are other landmarks and tourist sites in Wuxi, but that would be left to the many guidebooks available.
Experience, Buy and Do
Spring Festival (春节)
Spring Festival (春节, chunjie), Chinese New Year (中国新年, Zhongguo xinnian) or Lunar New Year (农历新年, nongli xinnian) is simply the most important festival for Chinese anywhere in the world. I have been intending to write about the Spring Festival all along, but just could not find the matching city. There is no special relationship of the Spring Festival with Wuxi, it just happens that I am writing this particular blog during Spring Festival and so I put this here. Clearly this is celebrated everywhere in the world, as we know it.
As a part-time linguist, I do want to emphasise that this festival or its naming could be a bit more inclusive and need not restrict itself to 'Chinese'. After all the festival is celebrated nationally in Japan (日本, Nihon), Korea (한국, Hangguk), Vietnam (Việt Nam), Malaysia, and many other countries, and definitely not only within the Chinese diaspora. The naming of this had sparked some unnecessary controversies recently, although there is no debate and dispute that this festival does originate from ancient China. As a southerner I have always simply called it '新年 (xinnian)', meaning 'new year', but in this blog I shall stick with term Spring Festival just to avoid trouble.
The date of it requires a bit of astronomical understanding. Even nowadays Chinese actually utilises three calendars concurrently: the usual Gregorian calendar since 1911; the solar calendar, or agricultural calendar (农历, nongli) as blogged in Mount Emei (峨眉山); and the lunar calendar (阴历, yinli), where the beginning of the Spring Festival is technically defined. In many cases in practice, especially in Chinese astrology, the solar and lunar calendar are mixed together to become the lunisolar calendar (阴阳历, yinyangli). The first day of the Spring Festival is defined as the second (or sometimes third if an intercalary month is added) new moon after the winter solstice, and hence it fluctuates every year with the Gregorian system. Relating to western astrology it always fall under Aquarius (Greek: Ὑδροχόος, Hydrokhóos). Remember that in the solar calendar the first day of the year always starts on the 4th February as lichun (立春), meaning 'start of spring'. During a year when the Spring Festival comes after lichun, which has a 50% probability, the year is referred to as a blind year (盲年, mangnian) and is considered inauspicious for marriage. No wonder why so many people complain about a bad relatioships all the time.
The origins of Spring Festival extend back more than 3,000 years to the earliest agronomical civilisations of ancient China, when celebrations were tied to the seasonal cycle of rice or wheat planting and harvest. As winter ended and spring approached, communities performed rituals to worship deities associated with agriculture.
A well-known legend connected with the festival involves the mythical creature Nian (年), with the word meaning 'year' in Chinese. The furry lion-looking creature was believed to attack villages at the start of the year and steal newly harvested vegetables. According to folklore, villagers discovered that it feared loud noises, bright lights, and the colour red. Villagers therefore used firecrackers, lanterns, and red decorations to scare it away. These symbolic practices perpetuate and remain central to Spring Festival celebrations today, and hence we do lion dances during Spring Festival. At its dance performance climax, the lion is fed with a bunch of green vegetable.
Focussing on my practices in Hong Kong, Spring Festival preparation begins perhaps a week before the festival itself, and one prominent feature is that we decorate our homes with red-coloured faichun (揮春, huichun) and lanterns all around, especially our doors. Faichun are auspicuous phrases expressing expectation of luck, fortune and prosperity. The most common one is the single word '福' meaning 'fortune', usually stuck at the main door.
One important early ritual is a thorough house-cleaning, usually three days before the Spring Festival, falling on the 28th night before the Spring Festival eve. We have a saying '年廿八，洗邋遢 (nin jaa baat, sai laat taat (Cantonese))' meaning 'Day 28th, clean the dirt'. This practice symbolises the removal of bad luck and stuffs accumulated during the year. Floors are swept, old items are discarded, and decorations are refreshed. One does a thorough shower or bath to cleanse the body as well.
During the week leading to the Spring Festival, the city will usually open various temporary open-air flower markets to sell large plants like orchids, peach blossoms, narcissus, kumquat trees. It is customary for a family to bring home a big plant to celebrate spring. The family will go to the market usually at the evening and it is one of those rare occasions in which young children can be outdoor at night. These vibrant markets are extremely crowded to the point of immovable because it is also a tradition simply to walk around, symbolising 'walking around for big fortune (行大运, xindayun)'. In recent years, these markets have transformed themselves into a night bazaar and sell anything imaginable and in fact the horticultural section has become a very tiny subplot.
The most important event before the Spring Festival is the family reunion dinner usually held during the eve of Spring Festival. This meal symbolises togetherness and family perpetuation and even people living faraway or abroad will make great effort to return home for this celebration, in a sense, parallel to Christmas dinner in the West. This results in the massive annual spring migration (春運, chunyun) leading to a traffic horror show in China. Even within the city, arranging a dinner of this sort can be a logistic nightmare as one has to coordinate across multiple families for the few days, especially for families with more than one sibling.
Clearly the dinner cannot be disappointing and it is probably the most sumptuous meal of the year. Apart from the usual suspects of chicken and seafood, for us southerners, we usually have a few traditional food with various symbolisms:
fish symbolising surplus as the word 'fish (鱼, yu)' is homophonic to 'excess (余)';
dumpling symbolising wealth as the shape of a dumpling looks like an ancient gold ingot;
rice cake symbolising progress as the word 'rice cake (年糕, nian'gao)' is homophonic to 'annual high (年高)‘;
sweet rice dumplings symbolising togetherness as the word 'sweet rice dumpling (汤圆, tangyuan) sounds like 'togetherness (團圓, tuanyuan)';
pomelo symbolising wealth again as pomelo (柚, you) sounds like 'possess (有)‘; and
mandarin orange symbolising good fortune as mandarin (桔, ji) is homophonic to 'good fortune (吉)'.
Some families visit local temples hours before midnight to pray for success and by lighting the first incense of the year, it implies being first in everything for the year. It is also common to stay up late past midnight, even for young children. This is called '守岁, shousui' and is believed to boost longevity to the practitioner.
The Spring Festival Day is a full day of intense activities and celebrations. It is a day which the younger generations have to home visit the elder relatives, with everyone dressed in red or bright colours. Children or the unmarried greet the elders with respectful wishes and receive a red packet called laisee (利是) or hongbao (紅包) as called in mainland China with real cash inside. The custom is that a married couple, an elder, or even a senior friend will have to give out red packets and this is the real excitement for the receiver during the festival. This will go on for a few days. The second day is typically referred as the real start of the year as the first day is all about holiday. It is called the 'opening of the year (开年, kainian)' when the married daughters return to visit their birth parents. The third day is called 'red mouth (赤口, chikou)' and is not supposed to do any visits, as the mouth is 'red hot' and prone to get into quarrel. Again after almost three of four days of intensive activities and visits, it is reasonable to get rest at home. Depending on personal customs and situations, many Spring Festival activities, especially public events will run until the 15th day when the full moon arrives, the day being called the Lantern Festival (元宵, yuanxiao), with red lanterns hung everywhere.
One running joke about Chinese love of wealth and money is reflected by our greetings. The number one greeting during Spring Festival is '恭喜发财 (gongxi facai)' literally meaning 'Wish you become wealthy'. This is way preferred over 'Happy New Year (新年快樂, xinnian kuaile)' implying perhaps happiness is really ranked lower than wealth in importance for Chinese! This joke is repeated here in this Ronny Chieng's comedy clip. Moreover during Spring Festival one of the main deities that we are all worship is the God of Wealth (财神, caishen).
Public celebrations frequently feature lion and dragon dances accompanied by drums, gongs, and cymbals, creating an energetic (but very noisy) atmosphere that is believed to bring good fortune to businesses and communities. Recall this with the aforementioned of the Nian creature. While the use of firecrackers are banned in Hong Kong, Macao and China long time ago, one will still occasionally witness the setting-off of firecrackers here and there, especially in more remote or less-developed areas.
One annoying thing during Spring Festival is the lack of varieties over the years in terms of television entertainments, due to the encumbrance of tradition. Every year for the past 50 years that I am aware of, we hear exactly the same songs, do the same performances, repeat the same cheesy jokes and customs, see the same deities for three days non-stop on television! Even the television advertisements remain largely the same with the identical noisy ear-worm tunes! Moreover these same tunes are heard ubiquitously in every corner of the city! As I said nothing had changed for the past 50 years!
Depending on where you are, Spring Festival will entitle everyone at least one to three days of official holidays. In China almost everything shut down for at least one week, to accommodate for the mass migration, and the world manufacturing logistics literally is brought to a stand-still for a week waiting for China to resume work. Even in developed places like Hong Kong or Singapore (Malay: Singapura), many traditional business sectors like carpentry, manufacturing or construction will take at least a week of holiday. When these businesses resume, usually on the fourth day of Spring Festival, the whole company will start with a spring dinner called '春茗 (chunming)' with the bosses giving each employee a red packet, accompanied by the noisy lion dances.
Such is my reflection of the Spring Festival, but naturally different parts of China and the world would have their own customary version of celebration. A full discussion of Spring Festival would probably result in a full thesis, or more. While we are now in the United Kingdom, we still celebrate a slightly abridged version of the Spring Festival, hoping to perpetuate this ICH to my children.
Discussing this with my wife recently, we actually notice a lot of parallels between the Spring Festival and Christmas of the West: red versus red/white; red packet versus gifts; plum blossoms versus Christmas tree; flower market versus Christmas market; reunion dinner versus Christma dinner; same Spring Festival tunes versus same Christmas carols...
Purple clay teapot (紫砂壶)
Just southwest of Wuxi lies Yixing (宜兴), internationally renowned for its production of purple clay (紫砂, zisha) teapots, as picture above from one of the shops along the Bridge Area. Purple clay teapot is considered one of the most valuable objects in Chinese tea culture, with its significance in material properties, craftsmanship, and symbolic value.
Purple clay teapots emerged during the Ming dynasty, a period when loose-leaf tea replaced powdered tea as the dominant form beverage. This shift required new brewing methods and vessels. The porous clay in Yixing proved ideal for teapot production, leading to the development of a distinctive ceramic tradition. Purple clay has some very good physical properties that made it favourable for tea-brewing. Its porosity can absorb trace amounts of tea oils over time and the teapot develops a thin layer of patina that is valued; while its superior thermal insulation property retains heat evenly and hence brews tea evenly. The clay is rich in iron and hence profuses a reddish purple hue. The overall material is strong, making the teapot more durable. The clay after prolonged use also enhances the tea flavour and aroma. Unlike glazed ceramics, purple clay teapots are typically unglazed, allowing direct interaction between clay and tea, and hence developing its own tea character over time.
Purple clay teapot is famous for its aesthetic values. It is known for its simplistic minimalist design, but oozes harmony and beauty. It is also known for its balanced integration of beauty and function. Many of them feature calligraphy or engraved poetry, linking the object to literary culture.
According to tea experts, the teapots are used to brew oolong (乌龙, wulong) tea, pu'er (普洱) tea, or black tea in general. These teas benefit from the heat retention and flavour-enhancing properties of purple clay.
While all Chinese drink tea as their daily beverage (not me really), different places in China observes different culture, some more so than the other. For instance Chaozhou (潮州) is very into theirs and have their own unique brewing procedures. Tea culture in Wuxi is more connected to Chinese philosophical traditions, particularly Taoism (道教, daojiao) and Confucianism (儒家, rujia). Tea preparation becomes a form of mindfulness practice, encouraging attention to detail, patience, and zen (禪). There are many teahouses in Wuxi advocating their own tea-culture, just as any other cities in China, but it is definitely their teapots that give them a special character.
Many people have asked me about the etymology of the word tea. Is it tea, cha or chai? All three words in English are derived from the Chinese word '茶 (cha)', and hence it was actually 'cha' that enters into the English lexicon the earliest. The word 'tea' comes from the Hokkien (Fujianese) pronunciation /tê/ and was picked up at the then ports in Fujian (福建) where tea trades were conducted. This leads to the Malay word 'teh', eventually giving rise to the word 'tea'. Hence many attributes 'tea' is a subsequence of the maritime Silk Road.
'Cha' is pronounced almost everywhere else in China, in particular the South like Hong Kong, and sometimes it is wrongly attributed that it is because of the land Silk Road, at least not necessarily, for instance 'ちゃ (cha)' in Japanese. The extra syllable '-i' was picked up when it moved overland to then South Asia and Middle East and became chai (Persian: چای), before passing onto Hindu, Arabic and Russian. Chai however has later changed its meaning slightly under the Hindu and technically means 'spiced tea', rather than just leaf-tea as we know it.
Eat and Drink
Jiangsu-Wuxi cuisine (苏锡菜)
Jiangsu-Wuxi cuisine (苏锡菜, suxicai) is a subplot of the Jiangsu cuisine (苏菜, sucai), described in our Suzhou (苏州) blog, which is one of the four main Chinese regional cuisines. Jiangsu-Wuxi cuisine features lots of sugar and fermented rice wine lees for seasoning and has generally a very rich, sweet flavour. There is also extensive use of seafood, especially river fishes.
The most famous dish from the city is definitely Wuxi spare ribs (无锡排骨, wuxipaigu), as picture above, where we had in the famous restaurant Sanfengqiao (三凤桥). The pork ribs are braised slowly in soy sauce, sugar, rice wine, and spices until the meat becomes tender and richly caramelised. One almost has to order it in every restaurant. Other famous dishes we had were:
Three whites of Taihu (太湖三白, taihusanbai): icefish, white fish and white shrimps;
I have to say the food is so sweet that most of the time when they reckon that one is not a local, they will understandably reduce the dish sweetness level. Even that when I ordered my spare-ribs to have the sweetness halved, I still found it too sweet for me. No wonder there is a prevalence of diabetes in the region.
Stay
30 years ago I stayed in the Hubin Hotel (湖滨饭店) and after 30 years I returned, now in the form of Juna Hubin Hotel (君来湖滨饭店)! Still retains the reputation of being the iconic tourist landmark of the city! One of the priciest hotels in the city but right in front of Taihu Lake, no complaints!
Travel Suggestions and Logistics
I flew into Wuxi via the Wuxi Shuofang Airport (无锡硕放机场, Wuxi Shuofang Jichang) this time, when 30 years ago there was no commercial into the city. The city is well connected by high-speed trains and metros. The city deserves a few days of visit, although most visits to Wuxi are likely to be work related.
UNESCO Inscriptions
The Grand Canal is a vast waterway system in the north-eastern and central-eastern plains of China, running from Beijing in the north to Zhejiang province in the south. Constructed in sections from the 5th century BC onwards, it was conceived as a unified means of communication for the Empire for the first time in the 7th century AD (Sui dynasty). This led to a series of gigantic construction sites, creating the world’s largest and most extensive civil engineering project prior to the Industrial Revolution. It formed the backbone of the Empire’s inland communication system, transporting grain and strategic raw materials, and supplying rice to feed the population. By the 13th century it consisted of more than 2,000 km of artificial waterways, linking five of China’s main river basins. It has played an important role in ensuring the country’s economic prosperity and stability and is still in use today as a major means of communication.
Standing as distinctive symbols of Chinese architectural culture, timber-framed structures are found throughout the country. The wooden components such as the columns, beams, purlins, lintel and bracket sets are connected by tenon joints in a flexible, earthquake-resistant way. The surprisingly strong frames can be installed quickly at the building site by assembling components manufactured in advance. In addition to this structural carpentry, the architectural craft also encompasses decorative woodworking, tile roofing, stonework, decorative painting and other arts passed down from masters to apprentices through verbal and practical instruction. Each phase of the construction procedure demonstrates its unique and systematic methods and skills. Employed today mainly in the construction of structures in the traditional style and in restoring ancient timber-framed buildings, Chinese traditional architectural craftsmanship for timber-framed structures embodies a heritage of wisdom and craftsmanship and reflects an inherited understanding of nature and interpersonal relationships in traditional Chinese society. For the carpenters and artisans who preserve this architectural style, and for the people who have lived in and among the spaces defined by it for generations, it has become a central visual component of Chinese identity and an important representative of Asian architecture.
China’s traditional tea processing techniques and associated social practices entail the knowledge, skills and practices around tea plantation management, tea-leaf picking, manual processing, drinking and sharing. Based on natural conditions and local customs, tea producers have developed six categories of tea: green, yellow, dark, white, oolong and black teas. When added to reprocessed teas, such as flower-scented teas, the result is over 2,000 tea products with a variety of colours, aromas, flavours and shapes. Tea is ubiquitous in the Chinese people’s daily life and is served steeped or boiled in homes, workplaces, tea houses, restaurants and temples. It is an important part of socialization and of ceremonies such as weddings and sacrifices. The practice of greeting guests and building relationships within families and among neighbours through tea-related activities is common to multiple ethnic groups, providing a sense of shared identity and continuity for the communities. The knowledge, skills and traditions are passed on through families and apprenticeships, and the bearers include tea producers, farmers and artists, as well as those who make the pastries that are typically served with tea.
In China, the spring festival marks the beginning of the new year. It falls on the first day of the first month of the Chinese calendar and involves a variety of social practices to usher in the new year, pray for good fortune, celebrate family reunions and promote community harmony. This process of celebration is known as ‘guonian’ (crossing the year). In the days preceding the festival, people clean their homes, stock provisions and prepare food. On New Year’s Eve, families dine together and stay up late to welcome the new year. During the festival, people wear new clothes, make offerings to heaven, earth and ancestors, and extend greetings to elders, relatives, friends and neighbours. Public festivities are held by communities, cultural institutions, social groups and art troupes. The traditional knowledge of the rituals, customs, legends and ballads associated with the spring festival, and the skills of preparing festival decorations and supplies, are transmitted informally within families and communities as well as formally through the public education system. Related crafts and performing arts are transmitted through apprenticeships. The spring festival promotes family values, social cohesion and peace while providing a sense of identity and continuity for the Chinese people.
References
Comments
Please share your thoughts and comments about the blog. If you need suggestions to build a travel itinerary, please let me know. More than willing to help. I would also like to build a bespoke-in-depth travel community around UNESCO WHS and ICH.
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